Page 64 of Of Blood and Banes
He holds out a hand as if to calm me. “It’s alright. We all start off that way. Us humans have a preference for our feet on the ground. Just as the dragons have their preference to take to the skies. The beauty of our bonds is that we work as a team, each trusting the other for our own strengths. Together, we make something formidable. We start training all our dragon riders this way, and you aren’t an exception. Once you learn to fully trust her—to fully let go—you’ll be able to actually fly. Now, we are but a short flight away from Driftmond?—”
“Flight? Ha. Suppose we’ll walk, then,” I state. My stomach flips and churns at the thought of being any more than two feet off the ground. There’s no way I’ll be flying again anytime soon.
“You can’t walk. If you two stay down here, people will get suspicious about a lone black dragon with a rider. You’ll have no one to defend you against any Vitalan rebels if they’re lurking around Driftmond.”
“Then I suppose we can take our chances, huh?”
“You’re being ridiculous. You don’t even know what Vitalan rebels are capable of.”
“You just said it yourself. If there are rebels lurking about Driftmond, who’s to say they won’t attack even if I stay with you and the other dragon riders?”
“Because I’m a symbol for peace and for the good of Vitalans. There’s a percentage of the population that opposes my rule, but most people are cowards. Us dragon riders go by ‘dragons of a scale’ instead of ‘birds of a feather,’ because we have strength in numbers. They won’t strike if they have the disadvantage. The rebels here are quiet, working within the shadows. If you stay here by yourself, you’re out of my protection and an easy target.”
“Tell him I said if anyone threatens your life, they’ll be the ones needing protection,”Daeja grumbles.
A’nala hisses at her, and Daeja snaps at the air in defiance.
“We can manage on our own,” I retort.
Sethan stares at me, waiting for me to falter, before finally dipping his head and mounting A’nala. “So be it.”
A’nala and him take off into the sky again, her flapping wings stirring the pine needles and grasses around us. I turn to Daeja, her white eyes dilating as I stretch my hand up to scratch her under the chin.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to throw you off, but A’nala cut into me?—”
“Don’t be.”I smile.“I know it wasn’t you. Thank you for catching me.”
I know she hadn’t had any ill intent. Sethan was just forcing my hand over what he thought was necessary. If I’m pissed at anyone, it’s him. She bumps her forehead to mine, and even though she means to do it gently, I stumble back a step.
“Always,”she purrs.
After patting her cheek, I throw myself up and over her into the saddle. As Daeja lifts onto her four legs and begins to stalk through the forest, I glance up to the sky above the treeline. The other dragons and their riders join back into formation with A’nala at the front. The seven dragons shrink to spots of red in the vast blue sky.
My eyes narrow.
I latch the hooks back onto my belt, wrapping my hands around the saddle horns until my knuckles groan in withered protest. My stomach churns at the thought of lifting off the ground. The vision of falling flashes in my head in short, terrifying spurts. A dizziness swims in my skull, and I begin to slouch to the side, trying to fight my body’s responsiveness by closing my eyes.
I rip the hooks back off my belt, half-sliding, half-falling off the saddle and collapse to my hands and knees. A bitter heat creeps up my throat and out of my mouth as I vomit bits ofmy breakfast and bile several times over. Something whizzes nearby. As I lift my head up, I swear I see a flicker of shadows through the distant trees. A glimmer of sunlight on metal flashes for a split second between the trees before it’s gone.
Daeja nuzzles my back, her exhalation billowing in my hair.“If you’d prefer, you can take your own two legs.”
“No.”I wipe my hand across my mouth, eyes still fixed on the spot where I thought I saw something. “Fuck it. If Sethan doesn’t believe I trust you, I’ll show him he’s wrong.”
Daeja lifts her head, stilling as she scans the forest.“Did you hear that?”
I slowly rise.“No, did you hear something?”
She tilts her head to the side, unblinking, her wings unfolding out to the side. Something like a branch snaps, and we whirl to the left. The horns on Daeja’s head and neck bristle, her lips peeling up into a growl. I reach up onto the saddle and pull out my sword from its sheath and turn to face the sound as Daeja curls her body in front of me. Approaching footsteps whisper in the undergrowth.
“Get on my back. And don’t you dare argue.”
“What if it’s someone from our group walking ahead of the wagons?”
“It’s not. Whoever this is has an odd scent I don’t recognize.”
Sheathing the sword, I climb onto her back, feeling even weaker than before now that I’d dumped everything in my stomach out onto the forest floor. Fastening the hooks once more to my belt, I scan the trees around us. For any movement. For any of those stray rebels Sethan threatened might be out here.
A masked figure slinks through the shadows, and that glimmer of metal in the sunlight flashes again. Daeja growls harder, her wings extending out to her sides.
